“American Writers in Italy” is a course that is also an adventure. As Americans in Italy, our goal will be to read and understand the work of other Americans who visited (and in some cases, resided) where we temporarily do. That is, we will be reading some interesting books not only in order to understand what they have to say to us and how, but we will also be making a varied and special effort to understand the role that their Italian settings play in creating their meaning and interest—and we will be visiting some of those settings. This is a course in the literature of place, and we will be making a collaborative effort to understand both literature and place.

Writers include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Patricia Highsmith, and Edith Wharton.